This Is Not for You

An Activist’s Journey of Resistance and Resilience

By: Richard Brown

Narrated by: Emmett Wheatfall

Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's Summary

A longtime activist in the Black community of Portland, Oregon, reflects on his accomplishments and the work still to be done.

This Is Not for You tells the story of activist and photographer Richard Brown, a Black Portlander who has spent decades working to bridge the divide between police and the Black community. His memoir brings listeners with him into the streets with fellow activists, into squad cars with the rank-and-file, and to regular meetings with mayors and police chiefs. There are very few people doing the kind of work Richard Brown has done. And that, as he sees it, is a big problem. 

The book finds Brown approaching his 80th birthday and reflecting on his life. As he recalls his childhood in 1940s Harlem, his radicalization in the newly desegregated Air Force, and his decades of activism in one of America’s whitest cities, he questions how much longer he can do this work and he wonders who, if anyone, will take his place.

This is a book about how and why to become an engaged, activist citizen and how activists can stay grounded, no matter how deeply they immerse themselves in the work. It also offers an intimate, firsthand look at policing: what policing is and could be, how civilians can have a say, and how police can and should be responsive to and inclusive of civilian voices. This Is Not for You speaks about being Black in America: about Black pride; Black history, art, and culture; and the experience of resisting white supremacy. It also stands as a much-needed counternarrative to Portlandia, telling a different story about the city and who has shaped it.

©2021 by Richard Brown (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

I am from Portland and related to what was written

I have never taken time to write a book review before. I appreciate this opportunity.

I hung on to every word anticipating what Mr. Brown would talk about next. He told his story covering a life time telling me just who he was and what his values were.

As the narrator read, I continued to hear Richard's voice even though it was being narrated by someone else. The narrator selected was an outstanding choice.

This book was exactly what I needed to hear. It made me cry several times because I truly felt what he was saying and understood his rage.

Richard, thanks for this insight into your life.

Linda Johnson